Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

These cupcakes came into existence because my husband buys too many pears.

I’m pretty sure no one eats pears in our house, and there’s been a bag of pears lurking in the fridge for well over a month now and lo, a few days ago yet another bag of fresh pears somehow appeared in the fridge!

In a bid to use up ingredients I spent the day pottering about the kitchen preparing a nice meal for the family, thoroughly enjoying myself and having a day off from deadlines. I slow roasted a wedge of organic pumpkin from my veg box and mixed the puree with the last of the Grana Padano, some chopped fresh sage, an egg yolk, smoked sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and some freshly made breadcrumbs from the heels of the loaf made the day before to make a home made ravioli filling.

The cooked ravioli was drizzled with a white truffle infused olive oil and sprinkled with fried sage; something simple. A loaf of home made rosemary and smoked sea salt focaccia was made to accompany, and for afters I defrosted a packed of puff pastry that had been sitting in the freezer for way too long.

The still firm pears were sauteed in butter and cinnamon and arranged over the centre of the puff pastry. The edges of the pastry were brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with demerara sugar before baking: my first ever pear galette.

To finish – a salted caramel sauce (pictured above) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream; a rather lovely pudding for a dreary day Shetland winter’s evening.

So this morning there was most of a jar of salted caramel sauce staring at me in the fridge saying, “Please, just eat me with a spoon. You know you want to. Go on!”

Something had to be done.

Cake had to be made just to showcase this gorgeous salted caramel.

While I waited for the cinnamon scented apple cakes to cool I took a walk in a nearby wooded area. I’ve just adopted two geocaches there and I wanted to collect them before the woods close for the season. The caches are currently disabled and will reappear fresh and new in the Spring.

While walking through the autumn trees I collected some fallen leaves for blog photo props, just in case my experimental cake recipe turned out.

It did!

I’d just finished frosting the last one when my husband came home from work. He ate three of these beauties in quick succession for his lunch.

In this recipe, chopped apples are sauteed with a bit of sugar and water until they begin to soften but still retain some of their texture. A spoonful of salted caramel sauce is added to coat the apples, which are then finely chopped and folded into a cinnamon and freshly ground clove infused cake batter.

The resulting cakes are deliciously moist and autumnal with a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting drizzled with salted caramel. I have Lekue Decomax, a little silicone tub with a detachable nozzle, which made it very easy to pipe lines of room temperature salted caramel across the top of the frosted cupcakes. To make the pattern, draw a toothpick across the lines of salted caramel at a 90 degree angle, changing direction for each line.

Now, the rest of this salted caramel is calling to be used to fill some dark chocolates….!

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Wow these really do look stunning Elizabeth! I love the technique you’ve used on top to decorate them. I might have to give that a try!Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs recently posted…Decadent White Hot Chocolate

This is a lovely post. So interesting to hear what you’ve been up to in the kitchen and I enjoyed your walk! Those cupcakes looks so flavorful and tasty! I can almost taste that delicious caramel sauce!Diane recently posted…Chicken Noodle Minestrone

Wow – these look amazing! (So does your dessert pears – everything is improved by being covered in salted caramel sauce). Love the design work on the top as well.Craig – The Usual Saucepans recently posted…ANZAC Biscuits

Aw thank you! It’s really difficult taking photos this time of year with the poor light, so I was really pleased how well these turned out.Elizabeth recently posted…Baharat – A Middle Eastern Spice Blend

I can see how easy it much have been for your husband to eat 3 of these and think I would do the same. Delicious cupcakes and that caramel sauce, yum.Janette@culinaryginger recently posted…Baked breakfast potatoes with eggs

Oh these look delicious!! I wish I wasn’t allergic to apples because I miss out on all the Autumn/winter goodies like apple pies, toffee apples etc! Your photos are beautiful and I now need to go and buy cake!Georgia recently posted…A Second Birthday

These look so beautiful and so tempting Elisabeth! I don’t think I have ever seen that kind of feathered caramel frosting on cupcakes before it is inspired. I often have leftover salted caramel sauce so I will definitely be doing this. Yummed, pinned and stumbled : )Lucy Parissi recently posted…Date night at Kaspar’s Seafood Bar and Grill

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